Later Never Came
by Rasiaa
Summary: "I forget sometimes that Remus Lupin was your family first," Teddy murmured quietly.


_I give up on trying to write anything fun and romantic for today. Well. I would if I didn't have a challenge to write for grr._

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His whole life, he had been faced with the very real fact that his parents- his blood parents, not his godparents- were dead. It came to him every time he looked into the mirror. For many years, he had been unable to morph much more than his hair and eye color, leaving him to see the lines of his father in his facial structure and in his expressions. The fact that he could morph in the first place was a sharp, stinging reminder of the mother he'd lost. The fact was presented in his studies- his teachers always praised him for being so much like his father. How wonderful it was when he was sorted into the same house, how his cleverness came from him. It made him want to lash out. It was shown in his colorful personality, he was told. His mother was just like him- clumsy, openhearted, and easy to talk to.

It made for a lonely existence only his godfather ever understood. Others tried, they really did, but they had no idea what it was like to have others see what he would be forever unable to. He had no way to compare himself to people who were dead. They only lived on in memory- not even pictures could capture a person, really- and those memories were not his own.

"Teddy!" his godfather called, jolting him from his increasingly depressing thoughts.

Scowling, he turned away from the mirror and morphed his eye color to a light forest green and his hair to a neon pink as he rushed down the stairs to meet his godfather by the front door. "Ready?" Harry asked lightly when he caught sight of the seventeen year old. Teddy nodded and Harry opened the door, Teddy jogging down the steps of Grimmauld Place to reach the street. The door closed and Teddy took that for his cue to start walking to the end of the block where they could disapparate safely.

Harry took hold of his arm and Teddy felt the familiar feeling of being squeezed before it released with a crack and he was faced with the sight of his grandmother's house.

Something vice-like secured itself over his heart and he could feel himself choking from it; yet still his feet moved forward after Harry to the door. It took a moment for the older man to locate the key, but he found it quickly enough. He slid it into the lock and held the door open for Teddy to step through.

Many artifacts had already been taken from the shelves- priceless tokens given to Narcissa in the wake of her sister's death. Teddy wouldn't miss them. His only reason for coming here at all was in the attic. He followed Harry up the stairs to the dusty room, where boxes had been torn open and taken. Cobwebs lined the ceilings, a result of over a decade without cleaning. His grandmother had become too sick to leave her bed when he was four, so those didn't surprise him either.

Harry covered his face with his sleeve when he moved deeper into the attic, but Teddy didn't bother. Instead, he leaned against the doorway, staring after his godfather vacantly. Truthfully, he had no desire to be here. It was just one more reminder that all of his blood relatives were dead and he really didn't need that.

"Teddy," Harry said suddenly. He looked up to find the man holding up a thick leather cord with rings over it. Teddy stared at them for a moment before he slowly looked up to Harry's face.

"They're rings," Teddy deadpanned, unnecessarily.

A frown crossed Harry's face. "No, really?" he asked, sounding annoyed. Then his tone softened. "They're your parents' rings."

His eyes flashed to the cord again and he moved forward. Harry held them out and Teddy took them silently, taking them downstairs so he could see them in the light. There were five rings on the cord, which didn't seem right. He held up the one that caught the light the most- a diamond set in a thin, gold band, it was clearly his mother's engagement ring. The next one was studded with small cut diamonds in three rows of six. Inscribed in the inside of the ring was the date of his parents' wedding anniversary. This too was his mother's. He looked at the next one- a simple gold band with the date inscribed- his father's wedding ring. The last two were silver, the inscription dating back in 1980.

He frowned.

"Everything alright?" Harry asked, making Teddy jump. He swung around to find a small pile of books in his godfather's hands; the man placed them on the kitchen table.

Wordlessly, he held up the cord for Harry to see. Giving Teddy a curious once-over, he took them, examining them in a similar manner to how Teddy had. He came across the two extra rings and his eyes widened. "Weird, isn't it?" Teddy asked, his voice low.

Harry sighed. "Not really," he said. "In fact, I had wondered where these had gone. I never imagined I would find them here."

"What?" Teddy asked, baffled. He raised his eyebrows as Harry sat down, undoing the knot on the cord to pull off the silver rings. He put them down on the table in front of Teddy, leaving his parents' rings on the cord. He retied it and reached forward to hang them around Teddy's neck. Teddy fingered them absently, staring at Harry.

"What do you know about your father, Teddy?"

"Everything you've told me," he said slowly in reply. "Is there something else?"

Harry gestured helplessly. "It was never the intention of anyone for you to learn this," he muttered, eyeing the rings. "Even when Remus was alive, he said he'd rather just leave it in the past, where he felt it belonged. But the truth is, Teddy, that your father didn't love your mother romantically- it was platonic, on his side."

Teddy looked at the rings, unsurprised. "I had a feeling. The pictures made it look that way, but I didn't think it was true."

Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, to which Teddy shrugged.

"It doesn't matter very much," he muttered. "Was he divorced or a widower?" he asked.

"Widower," Harry said. "He was Sirius' widower."

 _That_ caught Teddy by surprise. He jerked, looking at his godfather with wide eyes. Harry chuckled, looking sympathetic. "I felt the same way when I found out," he assured. "Of course," he added, "I had to find out by going through Sirius' old room to find clues for the war and find the love notes and pictures that were left behind. I confronted your father about it, and he said to leave it, and that we'd talk later about it, but then I had to go on the run and May second came around and later…well, later never came," he finished, sounding regretful and very, very sad, all of a sudden.

Teddy felt a rush of guilt rise within him. He looked at the rings and then at his godfather, who didn't look up from the small circlets on the table. Teddy reached for them with one hand and for Harry's hand with his other. Harry watched as Teddy placed the rings in his hand, closing his fingers around them. "You keep that set," Teddy murmured quietly, not looking at the man. "I forget sometimes that Remus Lupin was your family first."

Harry didn't say anything. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Teddy's hair- something he hadn't done for several years. It sent a familiar feeling of warmth and contentment and _home_ through him like a tidal wave. It let Teddy know that he'd done the right thing.


End file.
